Marina Izidro: Brazil base in Paris-2024 will have rice, beans and farofa on the menu

Nick Littlehales is known as “the man who taught Cristiano Ronaldo to sleep”. English is a sleep specialist and a consultant to athletes and football teams. He has worked for Real Madrid, Manchester City and United, as well as the mighty British Olympic cycling team, showing how resting properly enhances sporting performance.

In 2019, I interviewed Littlehales for a report and read his great book called “Sleep”, in which he explains everything from what is the right position to sleep (on his side) to a detail he considers essential: as athletes travel a lot, it is important to make sure hotels look as much like home as possible. This includes bringing mattresses or the same relaxing spray they put on their bedroom pillows. In high performance, everything makes a difference to win a title or a medal.

At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Brazilian delegation will have something similar in terms of food. Rice, beans and farofa will be on the menu of Team Brasil athletes. The chef has not yet been chosen, but he must be a Brazilian who will teach our seasoning to a French team. The assessment of the Olympic Committee of Brazil is that food has not only physical benefits but also mental.

The strategy was used in previous competitions and became a priority for the COB when it was approved by the athletes, who consider home cooking one of the favorite points in the operation of major events. If for us mortals, eating something we are used to brings comfort, imagine in a moment of extreme pressure like the Olympics.

In the Olympic Games, credential is a luxury item, and it would be impossible to have the ideal structure inside the Olympic Village. For this reason, the COB entered into a partnership with the city of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, where it will set up its main base, and will use facilities located 600 meters from the Villa. There will be a large parallel operation, with nutrition services, multidisciplinary teams, distribution of up to 40,000 pieces of uniforms and exclusive courts for training indoor and beach volleyball.

Bases close to the Vila are often crowded, and other countries, such as Australia, were interested in Saint-Ouen, but Brazil took the lead. The COB considers the operation of Paris simpler than that of Tokyo, with a difference of five hours in the time zone, against 12 in relation to Japan, and shorter trips. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic has imposed numerous restrictions in 2021.

Team Brazil will have other bases, such as the one in Rio Maior, in Portugal, which will continue to be used as an acclimatization point for sports that compete in Europe, such as swimming, volleyball and triathlon, and the specific ones for some modalities: Marseille for sailing, Tahiti for surfing, Lille for handball and Seine-et-Marne for canoeing and rowing.

In a shorter Olympic cycle because of the pandemic, three years separate the Tokyo Games from those in Paris. The COB still does not disclose the podium forecast. In Japan, Brazil had its best performance in the Olympics: 12th place and 21 medals, including seven golds, six silvers and eight bronzes.

At a cost of R$ 1.25 million, the agreement with Saint-Ouen was formally signed last Thursday (16). The mayor, Karim Bouamrane, knows Gilberto Gil and Seu Jorge, is a fan of the 1982 Brazilian football team and, when announcing the agreement on social media, he put a song by Tim Maia as a soundtrack. The Frenchman wants to help Brazilians “feel at home”.